Last update - 00:00 09/04/2007
Nitzanim beach reopened for bathing after weekend closure
By Yuval Azoulay, Yuval Yoaz and Zvika Gottlieb, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Nitzanim beach was reopened for bathing on Monday after tests performed by the Health Ministry ruled that the water is not polluted. The Interior Ministry ordered Nitzanim Beach, near Ashkelon, closed to swimming Friday evening after treated sewage was introduced into the Mediterranean Sea in the area.
Interior Ministry official Yossi Elbaz said the contaminated water came from the Ashkelon waste treatment facility, which is operated by the municipality and the Mekorot Water Company.
Mekorot said in a statement that it observes all standards at the waste treatment plant and that the treated water meets all Health Ministry standards. After treatment the water is transferred to the municipality, which is responsible for use of the water.
The Ashkelon municipality said in response that the water in question is purified water used for agricultural irrigation, and that it went into the sea when the organization responsible for pumping it out for this use suddenly stopped doing so, without warning.
Many participants and organizers of the "Boombamela" music and New Age festival, which took place north of the designated bathing beach at Nitzanim this past weekend, disregarded Interior Ministry orders against swimming in Nitzanim waters following contamination by sewage.
"We were warned," said one of the festival organizers. "They even put up signs at all the entrances indicating that going into the water was prohibited. I myself warned everyone I spoke to but there were some undisciplined guys who went in anyway."
Racheli Goldblatt, Boombamela's public relations agent, said on Saturday that the festival was held north of the designated beach and that "most of our guys aren't in the water. All the permits from the authorities remain valid even after the report on the contamination."
Interior Ministry officials said the area of the festival is next to the affected area, which some festival-goers went into. "People at the festival were not allowed into the water," said the head of the region's development authority, Ehud Reich. "We brought in police officers and city inspectors. We followed Health Ministry directives. Unfortunately this harmed us because people who aren't allowed into the water are disgruntled," Reich said. "The sewage should not have been introduced into the sea."